Ellingsdale
Ellingsdale, formerly known some centuries back as the Crovath Wildlands (or simply Crovath), was a sizable Duchy located in northeastern Gilneas that now oversees a portion of the nation's border by land and sea. It stands as a shadow of its former self. The construction of the Greymane Wall bisected the top third of the Duchy and turned it into a border region, and in the wake of the worgen curse's initial spread as well as the Forsaken invasion, nearly all of its earldoms, baronies, townsteads and all else lay ruined or unaccounted for. Since the Worgen outbreak and the Forsaken invasion, the only known establishment that held to redeveloping Ellingsdale and recognizing it as a border territory was the earldom of Saelborough, itself an extreme of the region in its northeastern seat against the Greymane Wall and the nation's coast. Now, with the Duchy and its earldoms reclaimed in full, the burden of rekindling the region falls to the people calling it home. Lingering threats and the entangling overgrowth Crovath was famed for both provide enduring challenges for the folk here. A petition stands to revert the Duchy's name to its former title, though it remains lost in the chaos of Gilneas's scattered governance. Geography Nestled between coastal mountains, cliffsides worn sheer by the sea, and a wild expanse of rebellious forests, the region was known more for its ability to hide within the wilderness and use nature to its advantage over any clear signs of development. This made for a retreat from urban life in Gilneas City, and allowed the native, pagan ways of its residents to flourish alongside adherence to the Holy Light to varying degrees. The landscape was rugged, and to many this was idyllic. Away from the regions settled areas, coming across signs of civilization was a challenge. Hills chart through the area, breaking into cliffsides and valleys or rising into small mounts. The largest of these lies near the center of Ellingsdale, upon which Elkhorn Castle was built. Carving through the region is a smaller offshoot of the Northgate River, the Tholme, which feeds through from the northwest and runs eastward, before forking south from Saelborough and into Bann Enther. In the way that Ellingsdale is divided by the rise and fall of its elevations, nearly all of human development is either built within its valleys or upon plateaus, as even relatively flat land is a commodity. Some farmsteads have even gone so far as to build terraced fields along the hillocks where they can. Clearing surrounding woodlands is also an obstacle for any attempt at developing and settling land. While this provides an ample resource to build with, overclearing has proven problematic and even outright dangerous in some instances, as many covens of druids and witches call the wilds of Ellingsdale home. They, more than any other natural hindrance, have done more to silently shape (and prevent the shaping) of the territory. Regions Prior to its fall, Ellingsdale was divided into several major earldoms that encompassed political, geographical or cultural borders. These had been shaped and reshaped over the centuries, until at last being solidified into their current arrangement following the Northgate Rebellion. Ellingsdale was split into two major regions after the Fall; Saelborough, which carried on in its culture and efforts to restore the Duchy, and the Dark, which encompassed the rest of it. Since Belcarthe's reclamation of Sheremont however, the earldoms have been reappointed, and their boundaries redrawn and agreed to in accordance with the standing borders that existed prior to the Fall. Folk living in Saelborough continue to refer to the areas beyond their borders as the Dark still, much to the chagrin of Ellingsdale's other residents. Saelborough In the northeast, Saelborough is the most geographically diverse region in Ellingsdale, and second to Keening Crag in the changes wrought by the building of Greymane Wall. It is host to cliffsides, mountainous terrain, forests, rivers and all else. Centered on the town of its namesake, the politics of the location have shifted and progressed over recent years from being a simple Barony to a March, and now an Earldom as part of the greater Duchy. Where it lied on the spectrum of peerage was murky, as it had changed with the growth and push for advancing the Duchy overall. Coupled with its former appointed status as a March to oversee the region's security both from within and beyond Gilneas, one was left to wonder how such a place hoped to overcome the adversities set against it. Saelborough had maintained its influence within Gilneas and thus the world abroad. It was once only accessed by sea through Wake Harbor, by air or over land by crossing over the Wall. Now, with Crovath being revived in full, travelers can come and go as they like along the Duchy's roads. Rumor has it that there are subterranean passages leading from Silverpine onto the Belcarthe Manor grounds as well, but as far as anyone knows, this is just hearsay. In the retaking of Sheremont and the political consolidation of Ellingsdale overall, Saelborough was a vacant Earldom until Lucan St. Croix was appointed to the task under "extreme duress" to continue the region's development and governance. The Dark So named for its nature, the Dark was an amalgam of what Ellingsdale used to be prior to the worgen outbreak, the Shattering and the Forsaken invasion. The past decades have been one turmoil after another for the region as it weathered the construction of the Greymane Wall and the Northgate Rebellion as well. Even when the dust had mostly settled in Saelborough, the rest of Ellingsdale was all but lost to the chaos that followed in the wake of its wars, and no outside contact was had with whoever, or whatever, dwelled in these regions. Danger of the unknown abounded, along with unrequited hostilities. With Ellingsdale's earldoms on the rise, the use and recognition of what the Dark is has become a point of contention, as Saelborough's crystallized mindset on the lands beyond its borders is a negative one. While the other earldoms entertain a more frontier aspect as they rebuild, the dangers therein are diminished but not entirely gone. Sheremont Sheremont, while not the largest of Ellingsdale's regions, is its most central and developed. At its summit, Elkhorn Castle oppressively looms over the region and lords over the Duchy, with structures tiered through its districts in rank of importance and priority. Farmlands and a network of tiny hamlets spread out from Sheremont's foothills and surrounding flatlands until breaking at the steppes to its south, and the forests in all other directions. Sheremont had not always been Ellingsdale's seat, but was settled for central governance in the wake of the Threefold Strife and settled upon the territory that the forces of Bann Enther, Colwaithe and Sheremont fought over some centuries back. By the King's choice, Earl Coronaugh Ellingsdale was appointed Duke of the territory, and his family has held the region until 1145 A.F. After a decisive series of advances throughout the lost Duchy however, Saelborough managed to consolidate its martial resources and began a sweep throughout Ellingsdale that culminated in a final reclamation of both Sheremont and Elkhorn Castle. Currently, its structures are being rebuilt, and refugees from across the Duchy and beyond are flowing in to continue where their lives had left off. It now stands as the Duchy's seat again, with Cedric Belcarthe overseeing Ellingsdale's rule. Bann Enther While it shares a northern border with Sheremont, the true divide between Bann Enther and the rest of Ellingsdale comes in the form of several rocky, jagged cliffs that break away from the forested chaos to the north and fall into steppes leading southward into the rest of Gilneas. The land throughout Bann Enther isn't as fertile as the north, and the harsh conditions make agriculture difficult, but what it lacks in woodlands and farms it makes up for in quarries, mining interests and several fortified holds across its length. Spanning the entire south of Ellingsdale, it was developed rapidly to serve as a defensive line. Whether this was used to protect Gilneas or the Duchy itself depends entirely on the period of history in question. During the period of unrest that fell upon Gilneas, an extensive mercenary network spanned the length of Bann Enther, lead by "Sir" Saul Loramont. Loramont had managed to somehow hold the area against foes from all sides in near-total isolation from the outside world save for his actions and those of his company. With political jurisdictions restored, Belcarthe felt it was only proper to bestow the Earldom to Saul, in exchange for the loyalty and financial fealty of him and his mercenaries, who continue their work as a private army for the Duchy. Colwaithe Along Ellingsdale's western border lies the region of Colwaithe, thinly settled amidst its sprawling forests. If the druids have any sort of geopolitical seat, it's here among the thick woodlands and untouched wilds. Similar to Bann Enther, thinner pockets in Colwaithe's forests serve as grounds for holds or watchtowers along Ellingsdale's western border. Beyond these and many small villages or single houses dotting the woods, little is fully mapped out or understood about the area. The largest of Colwaithe's covens, the Westham Druids, maintained a sizable town named Perring near Colwaithe's eastern border with Sheremont. An ample gold mine, and a second for moonstone, provided the town with its quiet wealth. A library there known as Scrivenhallow also made the sole provision of literary material to the Earldom. Since the reclamation, old politics were reinstated. Lacking a single Earl, Colwaithe is ruled by a council of Witch-Lords appointed within their respective covens to represent the area's major groups and recognized by the Duchy. There are currently seven covens in total, each with its own focus and take on Druidism. Their provision to Ellingsdale comes in produce and natural resources, as well as an unofficial policing of the Duchy's natural health overall. Keening Rock Immediately north of Sheremont and wedged between Colwaithe and Saelborough lies the region of Keening Rock, so named by the mountain witches that dwelled there for the winds that howled through the mountains' natural caverns. Where it was once a territory that stood as a sister region to Bann Enther, the Greymane Wall's construction all but destroyed the area in its demand for stone and defensible positions. What remains today are several cave systems, small forts and isolated towers standing along the Wall as it plots a course through the cliffs. On the other side, within Gilneas proper, a handful of mountain villages had emerged at the hands of refugees and workers either fleeing from one disaster or another, natural and otherwise, or working to build the Wall through the area. Since the Fall, Keening Rock has maintained an isolated and semi-independent status from the rest of the Duchy. The people lived in fear and confusion until an entourage of Argent Crusaders under the Dawnraven Chapter was given permission by Belcarthe to resettle and rebuild the area into a defensible and productive Earldom. Through the Dawnravens' efforts, Keening Rock was fortified and consolidated in all respects. Though no new towns have been constructed, the Chapter maintains its vigil and continues to enhance what the land already has. Over time, the Chapter grew distant from the Crusade and accepted a place among the Silver Hand, as another representation for the order within Gilneas. For their effort, Lady Rinnaelle Voltaigne (nee Ravensald) was bestowed the Earldom's ruling seat for her familiarity with the people between Keening Rock and Saelborough, and Sir Caledran Voltaigne was given charge to oversee the Dawnraven Chapter's continued growth and function. History Crovath's history, and thus Ellingsdale's, is akin to that of a tide pool. When the original settlers came in from the Kingdom of Arathor, they pushed southward and bypassed the region at first. Only a scant handful of pagan families and their followers held to the Wildlands, and it wasn't until a resurgence came back from the south that Crovath was ever truly developed. Periods within Ellingsdale's history follow the Aderician Calendar, and are listed by when they began. Antiquity - ca. 1685 U.A.R. Originally, the people of Crovath had pushed beyond Bann Enther and Sheremont to move into Colwaithe, Keening Rock and Saelborough; places that were seen as more easily developed, tended, farmed and all else over the otherwise uneven, rocky land that Sheremont and Bann Enther provided. While Keening Rock was little different than Crovath's southern reaches, the druids there heeded the spirits' calls from the mountains and forests to the north. Once this was done, populations began to grow and move south once more in order to claim Crovath's central mountain and southern steppes. These regions, like the others in Crovath, established the first borders acknowledged in the Wildlands; Colwaithe held to its forested valleys and stopped at the western bank of the Tholme river, while Keening Rock was settled along the northern bank between Colwaithe and Saelborough. Sheremont remained central to its mountain namesake as the river formed its northern and eastern boundaries, and Bann Enther stretched across Crovath's entire south, stopping only at the jagged cliffs and harsh crags separating it from the highlands. In time, the south would be known more for its martial prowess, and the north for its faith and adherence to the Old Ways, though capable druids and warriors were known from both regions. Border disputes would emerge now and again between feuding clans, but these were seen as little more than a nuisance during the old moots and hustings, as druids were quick to tell their secular counterparts that the land and its spirits had shaped their borders for them. By the time of Gilneas seceded from Arathor, war was already upon the nascent region. While outsiders readily viewed Crovath as an untended wilderness, it afforded the people of the region an opportunity to avoid direct conflict with Lordaeron while providing many of its strongest druids and tamed aid in the form of wolves and dog-hybrids. While the war was won, and a northern border was secured, the cost came at the loss of druidic families and the vast majority of Crovath's wolf population, which has still yet to recover in the present day. The Threefold Strife - 366 F.A. Securing Gilneas and a northern border said nothing for the regions within Crovath, however. The bloodlust stirred on in Crovath's people compelled them to draw stern lines that went against the druids' insistence that the land already had its divisions. The people of Bann Enther wanted better land to grow and graze with, as did Sheremont. Colwaithe wanted to solidify its holdings as lumber harvests drove back its borders, Keening Rock wanted to preserve what lands it had, with Saelborough fighting to keep its lordship over the Tholme river and holding back Sheremont's expansion. Two centuries of growing conflict eventually became the Threefold Strife; Keening Rock had agreed to its lands, and Saelborough had agreed to withdraw tax, toll and tariff along the Tholme within its ancient grounds so long as it could maintain governance over the river. Colwaithe was left to fight for its borders against Sheremont and Bann Enther, while Sheremont wanted to absorb the steppes into itself and claim its mines, and Bann Enther sought Colwaithe's resources and its freedom from the mountain's encroachment. The escalating conflicts edged on all-out war as Crovath's regions fought amongst themselves for superiority and satisfaction, as the logic of looking south to the rest of Gilneas had escaped the driven earls and chieftains. While Saelborough and Keening Rock did their parts to maintain openness and civility with the rest of the country, established and convenient routes into the Wildlands were cut off by the growing battles. With their hands forced by the unwanted isolation along a national border, the witch-lords of Saelborough and Keening Rock petitioned King Mortimer I for aid in the region in 366 F.A., and found an overbearing response. An ambitious earl from the Headlands, Coronaugh Ellingsdale, was appointed to oversee the Crovath Wildlands as its duke. With little love for the King's ramping hostilities toward the Church, and even less for the pagan ways of Old, Ellingsdale arrived with his bolstered forces and began to lay waste to Sheremont and Bann Enther before Colwaithe surrendered two years later. With his sweeping victory, he dubbed the Crovath Wildlands as the Duchy of Ellingsdale with the King's approval, and spent a sizable sum to ensure historians and cartographers were busy making the appropriate corrections. Duality of Faith and Custom Ellingsdale brought the Church with him, and while crushing the region's strife left his presence weakened, it did little to shake his resolve. As a result, he worked to establish compromise between the people of the five territories. First came his appointments by popular vote of earls and marcher lords to gather and draw up solid boundaries between their lands. Those leaders then chose their viscounts, barons and all else. They had agreed to serve; so long as they had their say at the moots, mostly-free governance over their lands and his pledge to maintain the peace. In this, the regions of Bann Enther, Saelborough, Keening Rock and Colwaithe became earldoms, while Sheremont itself served as the seat for Coronaugh's rule. Once this was done, it eased the effort of instilling the Light's presence within Ellingsdale. Only the smallest villages went without a chapel of some kind, and though Duke Coronaugh moved with all due haste and force to destroy the old feuds once and for all, his seemingly iron-fisted tactics dissipated in the realm of politics and religion. The resulting agreement over sacred and secular concerns in the Duchy was known as the Stagsheart Charter. Whether he grew to respect the Old Ways and the people of Crovath, or simply wished to avoid an uprising was never known, but the truth was likely fitting for a practical man such as him. As a result, neither religion rose to any true prominence in Ellingsdale. Together, the Light and the Old Ways merged together in most places, and in others they coexisted in a peaceful separation. Many pagans found that the Light's philosophies didn't denounce other faiths, and instead brought a respectable way of life to their natural regard, as the Light's adherents found that a celebration of the nature around them brought their souls closer to the beauty of creation. The following centuries were kind to the Duchy, despite the turmoils that Gilneas endured abroad. Days of Prosperity - 1054 F.A. Generations of Ellingsdales went by, their rulership similar to Coronaugh's. Under their guidance, the witch-earls enjoyed their liberties, and Duchy Ellingsdale grew to embrace the sciences within the moral jurisdiction of its druids. The knowledge of nature, magic and steam were commonplace, and in its place along Lordaeron's border it endeavored to remain on the cutting edge against any external threat. While never extensively populous, the people knew a higher standard of living. As time went on, the height of its progression was seen around 1054 F.A. when King Archibald began his push for modernization. One scientist, Sir Artur Wensleigh of Raven's Wake, was unable to realize the potential and practicality of electrical current, and resigned instead to focus on his obsession with illumination. As a result, Ellingsdale enjoyed extensive use of gaslights along its roads and in its homes and buildings, though Colwaithe objected to adopt the system in its earldom. Colwaithe's contributions came in the form of medicines and bolstered crops. Livestock were plentiful with their blessings, and even Bann Enther was able to enjoy fertile fields. Though a handful of viscounts and earls protested any singular reliance on one region, let alone one religion, Colwaithe's peers claimed that it was their contribution, and it not only satisfied their moral imperatives, but provided the Duchy with healthier lands and life in the midst of industrialization. Sheremont and Saelborough were known more for their research and education systems, however. Both enjoyed wealth from exporting goods and importing young minds destined for Gilneas City, Dalaran, or the world over, though the houses of Belcarthe and Ellingsdale felt it was best to retain their star pupils for the nation's good when they could. This all came to a shrieking halt when Arcturus Ellingsdale II assumed leadership of both his House and the Duchy at 22 when his father died in 1121 F.A. Fear of the Dark - 1122 F.A. Duke Arcturus had little understanding of the tenuous peace his ancestor Coronaugh established centuries ago, and the progression his descendants made to ensure its lasting benefit to the people of Ellingsdale and his own family's continued rule. Unable to comprehend the notion of mutual prosperity, let alone survival, Arcturus began undoing the work that his forebears and the earls of Ellingsdale labored over for hundreds of years. In the wake of Gilneas's withdrawal from the Alliance of Lordaeron and the Greymane Wall's construction, the Duke made sweeping changes to the Stagsheart Charter that all but dissolved its original conditions, save for those that concerned religion, which he cared little for. The resulting alterations put all political, militaristic, financial and logistic operations within Ellingsdale under his sole authority. In the following years, Colwaithe's farming efforts were forcibly withdrawn to its own region and put to work to produce lumber for the Wall's construction, as well as several forts and watchtowers within the Duchy. Saelborough was forced to renege on its ancient agreement for free passage along the Tholme and resumed its taxations, far worse than before, and now fully surrendered to Sheremont. The mines in Colwaithe, Saelborough and Bann Enther, as well as the latter's quarries, were pushed to their limits. Keening Rock was eventually sacrificed, and many ancient druidic shrines were destroyed in order to provide the Wall's construction with more resources. Arcturus had done this in order to curry favor with King Genn Greymane, so that his Wall would bypass Ellingsdale's northern border instead of carving through it like so many other regions. His gifts of lumber, stone and gold were met with callous disregard, and the Greymane Wall carved its swath directly across Keening Rock and Saelborough. Though the Marcher Lords of those regions were helpless to react, Arcturus II was livid. Peace was barely held by way of fearmongering and fervent jingoism, and now the fevered publicity of endorsing Genn's decision to isolate Gilneas was crashing down around him. Without a means to justify his actions, the Duke declared martial law and withdrew his presence to Sheremont, remaining silent and leaving Duchy Ellingsdale without vocal leadership during the Northgate Rebellion. Ellingsdale endures an uprising of its own, as many of its earls and religious leaders denounce Arcturus II. The earldoms turned inward, and reinstated many of the policies and practices that were in place before Arcturus II assumed his leadership. Colwaithe, Keening Rock, Saelborough and Bann Enther became city-states and worked to support themselves through the Rebellion and remained neutral toward the conflict abroad for their own survival. Many families were divided over the Rebellion and Ellingsdale's state as well. Sheremont became starved of resources, and so to its population's detriment became self-sufficient, overly fortified and choked with people, animals and smoke from the region's cloistered, ongoing industry. By 1142 F.A., the Rebellion had ended and the Crown was unable to turn its attentions toward the seemingly lost Duchy. At this time, Keening Rock had fallen silent. Living Nightmares - 1142 F.A. Keening Rock's name had proven itself fitting when the worgen descended from its caverns and passages. Spreading to the east and west, Saelborough was ravaged by the curse's living onslaught and Colwaithe's druids struggled to hold the creatures back. Bann Enther enjoyed its fortifications at long last, though several of its fringe holds were lost to the worgen, and nearly all of Colwaithe's hamlets and solitary homes within its forests were turned into human abattoirs. In Sheremont, Arcturus II was deaf to the cries of his people and resigned to stronger isolation as he prepared his castle for a siege. While he survived, Ellingsdale abroad was all but destroyed, and its population ran rampant in the night as it howled to rally its disparate packs. Several hunting groups were assembled to combat the worgen; those under Arcturus II killed the aberrations outright, while those called together by the earldoms' head covens believed that, with the right effort, a remedy could be resolved. Conflict broke out openly between these groups, which ultimately lead to another failure on the Duke's part as his men were ignorant in how best to combat or even subdue the worgen, and word traveled from similar endeavors in the south that the Royal Chemist had resolved salvation in a syringe. Death's Wake - 1142 F.A. Nature itself sought to damn Arcturus II for his actions during the first years of his rule when the Shattering toppled the Greymane Wall. For those who still survived Ellingsdale's isolation and the curse's spread, it was a somber moment to remind them, as it reminded many Gilneans, of the cost and ultimate futility of such costly efforts. Keening Rock was torn apart by the earthquakes, and the dockyards of Raven's Wake were destroyed, along with the loss of the Carrow Isles beneath the waves until the tides receded to show ruins. Only Eastwatch Lighthouse survived. The Tholme river flooded extensively, and its flow was rerouted from the river delta near Therrend and south into Bann Enther. Abroad, countless towers, keeps and forts were shaken to rubble. The worst disaster came in the arrival of the Forsaken during their invasion. One sizable group, lead by an Apothecary named Necrologist Anthregast, came over through Keening Rock and the nearby ruined stretches of the Greymane Wall to lay claim over this odd, forested region in the Queen's name. With the bulk of Ellingsdale's population absent or dead, he was met with little resistance. A small detatchment of his forces encountered refugees from Saelborough, lead by then-Baron Cedric Belcarthe, but the passing resistance did little to slow his progression toward Sheremont. Upon Anthregast's arrival at Sheremont's foot, Arcturus II released an emissary to formally surrender the region and Ellingsdale to Forsaken rule. The Necrologist found that most of Sheremont's people had already fallen victim to disease and starvation within its walls, while those outside had long-since fled or been picked off by worgen to become the lingering feral packs roam unchecked through the Duchy. For his aid in "taming" Arcturus II's realm, the man and his family were to swear fealty to the Queen and accept her gifts. Without hesitation, the Duke renounced his oaths to the House of Greymane and the kingdom overall. The inhabitants of Sheremont, including the Duke, were summarily plagued and the surrounding lands Blighted. His family died in the process, but once Arcturus II rose, he was left with his own miserable slice of lifeless hell to oversee with impunity. Mockingly, Anthregast took to a knee and swore himself and his forces to the growth and prosperity of Ellingsdale. His appointed task was to oversee the corruption and subjugation of the earldoms, starting with Saelborough and Colwaithe. Reclamation - 1143 - 1145 F.A. As Hellscream's forces were being pushed further back, and the Horde suffered its own internal strife, Cedric Belcarthe returned with the people of Saelborough, afflicted or otherwise, from the world abroad or as gathered refugees still living in southern Gilneas. Other leaders made their claims in the region as well, unbeknownst to Saelborough's survivors. Sir Saul Lorringen had long-since made his claim to a keep in Bann Enther and lead his Hundred Blades mercenaries as a veritable warlord, spreading a selfish sort of hope under the auspices of survivalism wherever he went when he and his company weren't hired out within and beyond Gilneas. Similarly, Colwaithe's Westham Coven had withstood the Forsaken since their arrival, and proved to be the greatest thorn in Anthregast's side as they gained ground and undid his work in Keening Rock, which the undead had been cut off from by Darius Crowley's Gilnean Liberation Front. The battles that House Belcarthe waged across Saelborough against the undead were aided by partitions of Alliance soldiers as well as its own assemblies of loyalists and bannermen. Rejuvenated to see a native presence return, the people fought with an intensity that rendered the battles comparable to rats being driven out with torches, guns and arcane fire. Arcturus II's reign was collapsing again, as pressure from Bann Enther began to grow once Lorringen's people and his own ambitions convinced him to make a claim for the Duchy. The druids, grateful but neutral from two pursuits, turned inward to heal Ellingsdale's Blighted regions as others continued to pressure Sheremont from the west. Acknowledging House Belcarthe's return and the threat of Saelborough's expansion, the Duke descended with his forces from Sheremont and encountered the army along the Tholme's bank. The battle was hard-won, but in the end Ellingsdale was liberated from its tyrant and left with none to claim the Duchy as the other earldoms, now simply ambiguous regions again save for Saelborough, continue to rebuild. Regrowth - 1145 F.A. - 1146 F.A. An unknown claimant emerged quickly after the Duke's death, with several rebellious undead and feral worgen in tow, to stake lordship over Sheremont. Though no motions had been taken, the region's position was heavily fortified and altogether silent. With Arcturus II dead and his holdings overthrown, Necrologist Anthragast and several of his underlings retreated into the depths of Colwaithe's forests as the Westham Coven continued to pursue the rogue Apothecary. Scouts regarded a mission to Sheremont as suicidal, and avoided it at all costs. Keening Rock fell into a precarious position as well, as four feral packs claimed the lowlands and several standing sections of wall that remained. They called themselves the Crescent Lords, and had adopted their own sort of peerage among the worgen and druids in their number based on pack dynamics. At the foot of Keening Rock's remaining mountains, a ramshackle town of refugees and fearful survivors called Respite had grown along the bend of Tholme river, fearful of the Lords' ire above. Bann Enther was largely void of any population in its towns, but unknown raiding parties had struck out from the south into the Highlands, with no colors, banners or known fealty. Two of its towns had been converted into holds, and Loramont's fort had since become more of a citadel, standing out against the grim steppes. Colwaithe only seemed to be home to its druids. Civilian populations were all but unheard of, with the occasional loner holed up in a forgotten house now and again. The druids work tirelessly to heal the Blight and uncover Anthragast's whereabouts, but a new sort of living darkness has begun to descend upon the old forests, causing the druids to seek outside aid as their numbers suffer from whatever evil is beginning to stir in the remaining Blighted regions. Of all the old earldoms, Saelborough was doing the best, with its Crown-appointed position as a March. While it still fended off feral worgen and small squads of invasive undead that emerged from Sheremont and over the Wall yet, its namesake town and the growing industry in and around Raven's Wake was progressing well. With the reemergence of the Carrow Isles, Belcarthe was able to rebuild the docks near Raven's Wake and repair Eastwatch Lighthouse. He had also seen to the reconstruction of Seahaven, a large tavern and inn on the Carrows, with its own docks and a shanty town around it that may or may not provide goods and services of ill repute. As Marcher Lord, House Belcarthe and its loyal numbers were driven to secure and reclaim the Duchy for Gilneas. Cedric himself had his eyes set on Sheremont and the title carried with it, but well before the tainted mountain could be claimed, Ellingsdale's other troubles risked growing worse without attention. Reclamation - 1146 F.A. - Present The claimant who took Sheremont and condemned Ellingsdale to its isolation and complications was actually Lord-Commander Mandrane Belcarthe, Cedric's eldest brother. Mandrane was risen by the Forsaken after succumbing to the Blight once the undead finally arrived in Ellingsdale. Before, he commanded several hundred soldiers and war-mages for Arcturus II. With his armsmen decimated and little hope for survival, Mandrane took flight into Sheremont's sewers to die in the dark and murk below. When he arose, the Banshee's influence was distant enough to allow the man his liberty. Slowly, he began to build his own army of disenfranchised and unbound Forsaken. The force was more of a cult than anything, with the elder Belcarthe at the heart. He espoused the rule and teachings of the Six; ancient proxies of the Old Gods that House Belcarthe and others held onto from olden times. He preached a coming greatness after the great purging of Ellingsdale; a land without sun and life. Mandrane's army rose up in 1145 F.A. to lay claim to Sheremont and eradicated any remaining loyalists to Sylvanas along the way. Once settled, a great silence descended over Elkhorn Castle and Sheremont as a whole. It wasn't until 1146 F.A. that Mandrane's youngest brother, Cedric, amassed a force sizable enough to dethrone him. The final assault through Sheremont and against Elkhorn Castle cost Saelborough considerably in resources and lives. Mandrane and his brother fought at length, and at last the errant Belcarthe was obliterated in a surge of flame, and his army followed suit. In the aftermath, reconstruction began immediately as the dead were set to pyres and the survivors returned home. A call went out for refugees from Ellingsdale to come home at last, which extended to folk abroad among the dwarven clans, Quel'dorei houses and gnomish companies. In the Earldoms, other resolutions were found as well with the structure of Mandrane's psychotic rule unraveled. Colwaithe drove out its remaining Forsaken as well, and put an end to Anthraghast's unique strain of Blight. Afterward, the newly ordained Council of Witch-Lords moved to finally begin purifying the wildlands throughout Crovath and beyond. Keening Rock enjoyed relative quiet once Sheremont was reclaimed. By then, its feral populations had either been brought back into civilization's fold, eradicated or driven off. The small shanty towns and struggling hovels had become stronger in their development, and with the help of the Dawnraven Chapter the Earldom was able to begin rebuilding in earnest. Bann Enther was successful in holding off the rogue brigands that plagued its reaches. Saul Loramont consolidated his power within the region and recruited the criminals that had either surrendered or offered their services to his mercenary outfit instead. Currently, his soldiers are on stand-by, tending to their homesteads and towns until called upon to act. Saelborough continued to develop after Mandrane's fall as well, but the losses incurred from the battle for Elkhorn Castle set their momentum back. The small, seaside mountain town of Raven's Wake had grown considerably between Wake Harbor and the Insmond Foundry. Poised to become an industrial center, the movers and shakers of Saelborough's trade guilds have sought to profit from the coming tides of modernity. As it grows, Saelborough has frequently provided a much more diverse population within its limits. Clan Drungrad of the Dark Irons has settled near Insmond, and two surviving Quel'dorei Houses, Valenuil and Thalendres, have started to cleanse the land beneath Therrend and reconstruct the town that once spanned the Tholme river's inlet. Category:Kingdom of Gilneas Category:Places Category:Ellingsdale